Tall Tales
by GentlemanBones
Summary: Apple Bloom's school report coincides with a temporal happening, in traditional Saturday morning cartoon fashion, and the Apple family finds the tall tales they wove coming to life all around them. Also Doctor Whooves was there.
1. Chapter 1

It took a particular skill to use cutting instruments without any particular digits to speak of, but there was a reason the Apple family were known as some of the most talented bakers in Ponyville. It helped that hooves weren't prone to being cut by pizza wheels. It also helped that most of their confections involved the same ingredients, so only so much variety was necessary.

Granny Smith loved trying to push the phrase "If there are Apples involved, we can do it" on people, but it never really caught on.

Today Applejack was working hard in the kitchen, preparing turnovers and hand pies out of a few bushels pulled in from the storage cellar. After many years of doing it, the process was practically automated for her; roll the dough, cut the rounds, roll the scrap, cut the rounds, roll the rounds, flour, flour everywhere.

Her eyes looked up when the saloon doors to the kitchen got pushed open, a sullen Applebloom striding through them with heavy schoolbags on either side of her abdomen. "What's wrong, sugarcube?" Applejack asked with genuine concern, letting her hooves continue her work without her.

Apple Bloom reared up, sliding her saddlebags onto the kitchen floor before hopping onto a stool beside the table to watch Applejack work. "In class today, miss Cheerilee asked us to research into our ancestors and write a report on them. I asked Granny Smith, but-"

Outside on the front porch, Apple Bloom's elderly grandmother continued to jaw on, rocking back and forth in her favorite apple wood rocking chair.

"Yeah, Granny likes her stories." Applejack spoke with a short, affectionate laugh, then suddenly realized her rolling pin felt awfully squishy. "I was wonderin' why you only just now came in with your bags, what with the sun goin' down." Soft orange light filtered in through the kitchen window. Somewhere, an owl hooted, technically an early riser.

"Yeah...so I was wondering if _you_ knew anything about our ancestors?" Apple Bloom ducked her chin down close to the table, trying to put on a pitiful look to win her sister's favor. Applejack was busy trying to flatten her pie dough back into a disc after accidentally rolling it into a new pin.

"Well sure I do! Tell you what, I'll teach you about our most _famous_ ancestor, feller by the name of _Apple Seed_." Applejack narrowed her eyes and started speaking in a more dramatic tone, the sure sign a story was about to start. Apple Bloom clopped excitedly as the world around them began to get all wavy, in traditional flashback fashion.

_ Now see, Apple Seed was a pioneer pony! One of the frontiersman of otherwise vacant land. 'Cept fer, you know, the buffalo. And the coyotes. And the wild ponies, o' course-_

The present day came back into focus, with Apple Bloom looking frustrated. "Applejack! You're turning into Granny Smith!"

Applejack looked genuinely concerned and pressed her hooves against her face in a half-hearted attempt to trample out any age lines, only succeeding in covering her muzzle in flour.

"_Applejack_, the story?"

"Oh, uh, right. Where was I..."

_Anyway, Apple Seed loooved apples, and wanted everyone to love apples. Not a hard task if you ask me, but history isn't written by the present. Well I mean technically it is, but...you know what I mean. Apple Seed roamed the countryside all on his own, staking out good land to plant apple tree nurseries on. Then he fenced 'em up and left 'em in the care of a business associate or friend of his or just whoever happened to be around. Most of the nurseries went on to form towns around 'em. Accordin' to Granny Smith, Ponyville was founded around the very first nursery he ever planted!_

"And that's the whole story." Applejack finished, looking proud of herself.

Apple Bloom was less happy. "...That's it?"

"That's it." Jack raised an eyebrow, not sure how anyone could be unhappy with such an interesting tale.

"...I'm gonna go find Big Macintosh." Apple Bloom hopped off her stool and wandered out into the back yard, where Big Mac could usually be found relaxing on the porch.

Applejack shook her head and went back to cutting discs out of her dough. "Some ponies just don't appreciate a good story, I swear. That girl ain't right."

-~-~-

"Maaac!" Apple Bloom called out from the back porch, rearing up on her hind legs in hopes it would send her voice farther through the orchard. Her forehooves hit the apple wood deck, and a quizzical look crossed her face.

"Over this way!" Big Macintosh's voice came from just within the tree line, eventually stepping out of it with a harness tied to the yoke he always seemed to wear. Trailing behind it was an adult pony on a cart, apparently unconscious. His fur was a bright yellow, with messy, ill-groomed mane and tail of a vibrant red. Big Mac pulled the cart closer and Apple Bloom quickly darted to its side, looking over the edge at the passed-out pony.

"Is he alright?" She asked, peering close and waving a hoof a few inches from his face. Big Macintosh stepped out of the harness and sat on the grass, staring down at his workload in apparent concentration. Finally, he spoke.

"...Don't know."

Apple Bloom glared at her brother, disappointed in his lack of helpful words. The pony they were both watching began to stir, and she hopped off the cart with a short gasp of surprise. The unknown pony sat up, glanced around, and spoke:

"...Shee-oot."

"...Eyup."

"Uhhh..." Apple Bloom shook her head quickly, trying to disengage from the riveting conversation. She spotted a deep frying pan in a corner of the cart, and picked it up, showing it to the older ponies. "Hey! What's this doin' in the cart? Shouldn't ie be back in the kitchen?"

The unknown pony perked up, quickly reaching down to pluck the pan up with his teeth and skillfully flipping it up onto his head. "That's my hat! Been lookin' for that. Thankin' you kindly fer findin' it. Coulda used it back in the orchard."

"Your...hat?" Apple Bloom questioned, raising an eyebrow.

"Well, yeah. You ever been hit on the head with an apple? It ain't pleasant. And I found out first hand just a little while ago. Thanks for pickin' me up, by the by."

"Eyup."

"Name's Apple Seed, by the by. Right pretty orchard y'all got, you should be proud!" He stood up and hopped off the cart, his pan rotating around on his head, the handle lining up with his mane.

Apple Bloom didn't feel inclined to take this in good faith. "_You're_ Apple Seed? THE Apple Seed? 'Cause my sister just told me all about Apple Seed, and he was around a long time ago!"

"Well I'm sure to a young'un, five years is a long time ago. You ain't much older than that, are ya? But look, if you don't believe me, I got my name written on my flank here." He stepped forward and pointed his tail end to her, allowing her a good look at his cutie mark; a collection of three apple seeds, plain as day on his fur. This was enough to please Apple Bloom.

"You ARE the real Apple Seed! This is amazin'! I never thought I-OH! Hey, could I get your help with my homework?"

"Do what now?" It was Apple Seed's turn to raise an eyebrow. He shook his head quickly, shaking off the excited young girl and walking towards the house. "Listen, before I do _anythang_, I'd really like a nice tall glass of cider, if'n y'all could oblige an injured feller. You don't mind, do ya big guy?"

"Nope." Macintosh stood up and followed Apple Seed inside, who was himself quickly trailed by Apple Bloom. But as soon as Apple Seed was inside, he ran back out again, rather in a panic. "GET THAT CRAZY FELLER AWAY FROM ME! HE'S BEEN TRAILIN' ME ALL DAY!"

Apple Seed was quickly followed by another pony...a brown one with a darker brown mane, and an hourglass on his flank. Applejack and Apple Bloom had seen him around Ponyville before, but didn't actually know much about him. "YOU are going to cause a LOT of people a LOT of trouble if you don't GET BACK HERE!"

Applejack was third in line, and quickly catching up. She didn't know much of the situation, but she wasn't about to let chaos run rampant through her orchard. She was able to dart ahead of Apple Seed and give him a good shove onto his side, subduing him harmlessly and putting a stop to the chase. "Now just what in tarnation is happenin' around here? I want answers, and I want 'em now!"

The brown pony came to a slow stop in front of the crashed Apple Seed, and was breathing hard. "Right...well...there's been...something of an accident. I really can't apologize enough. So if you'll allow it, I'll just be taking our friend Apple Seed here and I'll be on my way-"

Applejack blocked the brown pony off, standing over Apple Seed. "Hold it right there, partner. You're not goin' anywhere until you tell me who you _really are_."

The hourglass pony looked concerned for a moment, then put on an expression of resignation before speaking. "You can call me Doctor Whooves. I'd really appreciate your cooperation."


	2. Chapter 2

The weather control center of Cloudsdale is a relatively tame place, despite the chaotic nature of weather. Since the ponies that maintain it are true professionals, actual emergencies are rare. As a result, disaster weather tends to happen only when someone untrained attempts to run the controls of the larger machines.

The multitude of sirens and flashing lights going off throughout the facility suggested this was the case.

"How in the blue blazes do you get a real drink out of this thing?" A short, brown-coated, black-maned male pegasus with a tornado for a cutie mark was stamping his hooves against the various buttons and levers ornamenting the master breeze controller, looking increasingly frustrated as the plastic cup he'd placed under the vaporator valve continued to fill only with water. "Come on now, you got all these funny lookin' pools 'round here, there's gotta be _somethin'_ worth drinkin'."

There was a sudden beam of multicolored light streaking across the room, and suddenly the brown pegasus was on the other side of the room in a heap with another pegasus on top of him. "What's the big idea? You've ruined our planned weather pattern for the next _month_!" Rainbow Dash glared angrily at the intruder, backing away a few feet once his eyes were open again.

"Well excuse me for expectin' one of the machines in this joint to do somethin' interestin'! I've been flyin' around looking for a good drink all day, and not one of y'all have shown a lick of hospitality! I tell ya, it's insultin'!"

"_Insulting_ I'll tell you what's insulting! Jokers like you who think they can do our job as soon as they show up! If I had a salt cube for every time-"

The bickering was interrupted by a larger pegasus in a lab coat and hard hat. "Uh, Rainbow Dash? There's a tornado headed towards Ponyville."

"Don't interrupt!" The brown pegasus shouted, speeding towards the larger male and pressing their faces together. "I was havin' an educated debate with the lady here! Mind yer business!"

Rainbow Dash clamped onto his tail with her tail, flinging him backwards towards the floor. "What are you, psycho? There's a tornado! This is an emergency situation! We have to sound the air sirens! AUGH. We haven't fired the air sirens in years!" She shook her head and flew off towards an open doorway, quickly disappearing towards a farther off building.

The brown pegasus got up and shook quickly, trying to shake off any dust he might've attracted. He ended up shaking off more dirt than there ever might've been on the floor. "A tornado? Horsefeathers, that ain't nothin'." He took after shortly thereafter, powering through the air while scanning the horizon for the sour weather.

The third pegasus had remained behind, trying to correct all the beatings and poundings the machine had received.

**"Attention, residents of Ponyville!"** Rainbow Dash had grabbed a headset from the radio room and was flying towards Ponyville with it on. It connected directly to a speaker system in the center of town. **"A natural disaster is approaching the town! Seek shelter immediately!"**

Thick, ominous clouds were forming overhead, swirling around each other. Wind howled viciously, growing ever more powerful, until a funnel cloud finally touched down with the earth. Winona barked as loudly and rapidly as she could to be heard over the wind while rushing towards the farm house.

"I'll explain later exactly how all of this happened, but...if this fellow here _is_ your ancestor, I'd hazard you would know more about the fellows now loose in your timeline than I would. Though I can't imagine finding them would be easy, I doubt there will be sirens and flashing lights." Doctor Whooves finished fastening the ropes around Apple Seed's calves just in time for sirens to start going off.

"What in the hay-Winona!" Applejack met her dog in the front room of the house and peered outside the house to watch the funnel clouds touch down on the edge of Sweet Apple Acres, and pressed her muzzle and hooves up against the window in panic. "The harvest! There hasn't been a tornado in years! We aren't prepared for this, our entire orchard could be lost!"

Big Macintosh was soon behind her, carefully peering up near the top of the tornado. He didn't say anything, but his intentioned stare let Applejack know _something_ was worth looking at up there. She looked, and there seemed to be...a pegasus, circling around the top of it. "...Dash? Dash, what are you doin'?"

"YEEEEHAWWWW!" A loud voice, definitely male, echoed backwards from the tornado, the pegasus in question starting to circle lower around the weather formation, headed towards the base on the ground.

"Wait a minute...that ain't Rainbow Dash at all!" Applejack realized, speeding from the window to throw open the front door and stand on the porch while watching in amazement. The tornado seemed...stuck, or at least stopped, until the pegasus that had been circling it flew in an opposite direction. Then it quickly shrunk, bulging in places, as if tied up in rope.

"Widow Maker!" The brown pegasus called to its companion on the ground, a stocky black earth pony with a white mane and full moon cutie mark running along the ground where the pegasus was flying. The pegasus threw the end of the rope to Widow Maker, who clenched it in his teeth and began to spin in place...the tornado traveling with him, traveling in a tight circle around the two. After a few rotations, the pony reared up and let go, managing to lift the tornado off the ground and fling it into the air where it dissipated harmlessly.

The skies cleared. Applejack raised an eyebrow. "That don't make a lick of sense."

The brown pegasus landed on his larger companion's back, stomping his hooves excitedly, Widow Maker seeming not to notice or care. "Yeehaw! That was amazin'! Good job, partner." Widow Maker smirked and snorted in pride. His ears twitched, and he turned around to face the visitors approaching them.

"I know exactly who you are! Only one pony in history was ever able to lasso a tornado! You're Pecos!" Applejack spoke with an excited grin, getting in close to get a good look at two heroes from her childhood. "And that makes you Widow Maker, doesn't it? The strongest pony to ever live! I heard you kicked someone all the way to the moon once!"

Pecos leaned down and chuckled, draping his hooves over Widow Maker's head. "He likes to calling it 'givin' Princess Luna company.' I like just calling it 'awesome.'"

"HEY." Rainbow Dash skidded to a halt beside the group, getting sour looks from Applejack for digging up the grass in her sudden stop. "You! I OFFICIALLY don't like you! Not only did you mess with our instruments, but you made me look silly for calling that alert! And...and...AUGH, that was SO COOL. How did you even do that?"

Pecos hopped off Widow Maker's back, striding off coolly while looking over his shoulder. "It's easy. I'm the fastest, most talented pony on any side of the Poni Grande. And a couple of times, _in_ it. No one's better than me."

Rainbow Dash grinned in excitement, raising an eyebrow. "Oh yeah? Care to put your money where your muzzle is? Let's race to the other side of Everfree Forest, and then-"

"Hold on, hold on! No one's going anywhere! Except Pecos and his companion here, who are coming back with me!" Doctor Whooves butted in, pushing past Applejack and Rainbow Dash. "It's very important that-"

"You're on! OnetwothreGO!" Before anyone could stop them, both of the pegasi were off at a blinding speed. Widow Maker shook his head to get his shaggy main out of his eyes, deciding not to actually go anywhere.

"...Blast it. Well, we'd better go after them."

Applejack trotted back to the house. "I'd better go untie Apple Seed, he can come with us. I wouldn't wish staying here with Granny Smith on anybody."


	3. Chapter 3

"It sure was nice of them to leave us this trail." In a stunning display of dry wit containing more words than he'd spoken in days, Big Macintosh commented on the almost entirely clear path through Everfree Forest left behind by the not-quite-literal trailblazing of Pecos and

Rainbow Dash. The pegasi had disappeared farther ahead, but their handiwork was clear; any trees that might have been in their way had very quickly bent themselves _out_ of the way.

Some people disregard the survival instinct of plants, but in the Everfree Forest it's so powerful it becomes unnatural.

Apple Bloom showed a remarkable amount of courage in deciding (that is, demanding) to join the others on the hunt for the pair of braggarts, impressing all the adults despite the fact that she'd done this before. Big Mac had insisted on walking beside her, and in a fit of worldess

chivalry was joined by Widow Maker on the opposite side. Applejack, Apple Seed, and the Doctor had point.

Applejack took cautious glances about, torn between wanting to be familiar with her surroundings and wanting as little to do with the alien forest as possible. There was no telling what the landscape would be like on the way back, since no one could guess how long it took for

a tree to decide it wasn't being threatened by high-speed, high-power flyers. "How far in you reckon' we've come?" She asked no one in particular.

The Doctor chose to respond first, after the rest of the group made it clear they had no witty retort prepared. "At the most, only half way. After that, you start making your way _out_. This doesn't make any sense, though. How deep can this forest be? They must have made

it to the opposite side by now."

"I don't know, but when I get my hooves on that girl, she's gonna...she's gonna...well she's sure gonna regret lettin' me do that."

"All these trees, and not a single one of 'em bearin' fruit. Pitiful." Apple Seed spun his head around, scowling at the flora as if it had personally wronged him. His tin helmet tended to spin with a few seconds of lag.

"HOWDY!" A sudden loud voice boomed over them, a brown pegasus floating just overhead. Applejack and Apple Seed were the only ones to startle, all eight of their knees buckling for a split second. Rainbow Dash and Pecos both fell into laughter while the two corrected

themselves and looked spiteful.

"Why you no good-just where did you two disappear to?" Applejack reared up, trying to swat at Rainbow Dash with her forelegs, the blue pegasus just out of reach.

"Hold your reigns there, AJ! You can be mad at me all you want _after_ we show you what we found. Come on, it's just to the end of the forest!" The two darted off again, leaving all the earth ponies behind. Were it not for the presence of her younger sister, Applejack

would've been much more vocal than the quiet grumbling while they started to walk again.

"Everyone, please." The Doctor spoke again while they neared the end of the trail, a bright light and clear sky visible from a short distance. "I don't trust this place to not cause mischief alongside the temporal anomalies our...old friends have caused. The bizarre could happen. I

need you to be prepared."

"Whatever you say there, partner." Apple Seed was a few paces behind, stamping dirt into place. From whence he'd retrieved an apple seed to plant would forever be a mystery.

The forest cleared and gave way to a deep and wide canyon, the opposite wall of it only barely visible from the one the group was perched on. Directly below lay what appeared to be...train tracks. With a train currently occupying them, with a lead car nobody had ever seen

before, towing all anyone could figure as pure inky blackness. "What do you think's happenin' down there?" Apple Bloom peered down over the edge, squinting her eyes and leaning down to try and make out the locomotive below. Applejack yanked her back by her ribbon,

glaring at her for threatening her health.

"Guys! Down here!" Rainbow Dash's voice echoed across the canyon, hitting the group from somewhere below. "Come look, this is amazing!"

"And just how does she reckon we get down there?" Applejack's question was answered rather quickly, with Widow Maker finding and following a relatively safe trail down the cliff face. No one else seemed to have a problem following, so AJ gave up with a huff and formed

the tail. "I swear..."

Everyone came together again at the canyon floor, Pecos and Rainbow Dash landing beside the earth ponies. And of course, the lot of them weren't the only ponies around, either. There was a well-aged male pony with a chartreuse coat and white mane, with what seemed to

be a pair of gears as his cutie mark. He was bickering with a much larger and stronger dark gray male with _no_ mane, but a black tail, and a railroad spike as his cutie mark.

"I have devoted most of my life to this project, and I'm not going to put it behind schedule just because you have preposterous and unfounded ethical problems with it! My engine is going to revolutionize travel for all creatures everywhere! You have no right to stand in the way of

progress!" The old man was plenty brave, for shouting in the face of someone so much healthier.

"I have every right! I BUILT these rails, and I did it better than anybody, pony or machine! I won't stand for this...this metal inferno trying to take the place of any work horse! There's nothing a machine can do a pony can't do better!"

"Ehem. Excuse me?" Applejack was feeling pretty confident in her ability to communicate with living legends. "I know who you are, big fella. You go by the name of John Henry, don't ya?" Legend and song told of his ability to outperform any machine on a railroad, but most folk

remembered him for having the most absurd name ever heard on any pony in record. The bald pony answered with a nod, and Applejack turned her attention to the older one. "And just...who are you, exactly?"

"They call me...Gizmo. Yes! That's my name. It's a pleasure to make your acquaintance. Now if you'll excuse me, I have to get on with my testing! And no foolhardy railroad worker will-"

Henry had to put his hoof down on this matter. "I'm not askin' you to stop your research without cause. Just gimme one chance to prove I can haul this hunk faster than your fires can push it. You've clocked it before, right? If I'm wrong, I'd think you could make good use of that

kind of data. Right?"

"Well I guess it couldn't actually hurt...and I'd hate to sink more time into an ineffective prototype. Mr. John Henry, you've got yourself a deal." Gizmo actually looked pleased by the events. He wasn't an unfair or unsporting man by any means, but more than that, he liked the

chance to prove his inventions.

"Ah, excuse me, Mr. Henry?" The Doctor approached the bulky work horse, sidling in close to whipser. "I really hate to interrupt your challenge here, but I desparately need you to come back with me. Otherwise...truly terrible things are waiting on the horizon."

Henry wasn't in much of a mood to listen, using his teeth to pull out yoke for the train. "Can't. Gotta defend the honor of railroad ponies everywhere. Whatever you got for me can wait." Now, the good Doctor wasn't necessarily in any position to go arguing with a very muscular

work horse. He was, however, in a position to negotiate with two others.

After a short chat, Big Mac and Widow Maker approached the bald pony leading the train. "Mr. Henry...I gotta admit...I'm a big fan of yours. But no matter how strong you are...a whole train is just too much for one pony." Widow Maker stepped in after, pulling up his own end of

the reigns. But Big Mac looked nervous, and stepped back.

It took a moment for Henry to say anything, but he did eventually speak up. "You can sure talk." Applejack almost choked on the irony of the overhead conversation while she helped everyone into the passenger cars. "But don't feel fit to join us. Somethin' wrong, red?"

Macintosh looked away, a little ashamed. "I ain't allowed to do any heavy work anymore. I got an injury. I could stress it."

"You're gonna let your limitations control you your whole life?" Around this point, Applejack decided to not just listen, and stand up for her big brother.

"Don't you go bullyin' him! Big Mac's condition tortures him every day! You got no right-" Her words didn't do much to stop Macintosh from stepping into the reigns as well, with a look of determination in his eye she hadn't seen for a good long while. "Are you sure you're up to

this, Macintosh...?" She stepped closer, her voice softer, carrying deep concern. "I ain't got it in me to tell ya no, but..."

He smiled gently and nodded before looking ahead, rolling his neck to quickly limber up. "Eeyup."

Applejack smiled back, before turning to enter the train herself, the last to board. Gizmo called from the front car, just behind the three of them. "Alright boys! Whenever you're ready! Show me what you can do! But I promise, this new engine of mine can do the work of eight

ponies!"

Pecos had set himself up on one of the small booths inside the passenger car, forelegs folded on top of the table before it. "'Course, ol' Widow Maker's got the strength of eight ponies what's got the strength of sixteen ponies. Worried about the cripple, though. He might slow us

down."

Applejack smirked in confidence, setting herself across from him, quickly joined by Apple Bloom on the same side. "Don't count my kin out so quick, Pecos. No member of the Apple family is a quitter."

Everyone simultaneously turned to look at Apple Seed, who was spitting apple seeds into the desert soil outside the train. "You're also all a little bit crazy. I can admire that." Pecos added, turning back around in his seat, Rainbow Dash taking a seat next to him.

All at once, the train began to lurch forward, the three ponies in front gaining their footing slowly before quickly picking up speed. Henry lead with a blaze of pride, Widow Maker easily keeping pace. Big Mac was suddenly worried about being in the back; if either of the two

ponies in front of him looked over their shoulder, they'd see him wincing in pain from the pain in his muscles. Hopefully it wouldn't take too long to beat Gizmo's record...his body wouldn't hold up to much. But he refused to give up so quickly.

The Doctor had approached the mechanic in the front car, deciding to make idle chatter while keeping an eye on the boys. "So...Gizmo, right? What exactly is it your engine here runs on?"

"Special gems!" Gizmo announced excitedly, pulling a pitch black rock from a compartment in the train's console. "These black stones here are just packed full of latent magical energy. When they're superheated, they explode. I built a machine that can harvest that energy and, in

essence, use it to do any number of things. I just picked locomotion as my first task."

"Magic, eh...might prove useful." There was a sound, like an explosion, like the sound of thick metal being punctured from far behind the train. "Do you suppose it's dangerous to start the engine while there are ponies leading the train?"

Gizmo was too focused on the explosion to listen. "What in the name of-is something happening to my train?" He dashed quickly from the front car, past where all his passengers were seated and too the back of it. Everyone followed in kind, crowding the window of the rear

car to see behind.

A great beast, like a massive bull made of darkness and creeping shadow, was quickly gaining on the train. "This is exactly what I was talking about." The Doctor commented from behind everyone, not needing to be able to see to know what was out there. "The time keepers

don't like it when you misplace a lot of people. Gizmo, if you'd please show us how to stock your engine with fuel, I think it would be in everyone's best interest to be traveling a little faster."

"That would crush everyone leading the train!" Gizmo shouted in shock, heeding his advice anyway and running back to the lead car.

The Doctor very calmly argued "If nothing changes, we'll ALL be crushed, or worse. You don't want to know what 'worse' means with a time keeper. Besides...I have absolute confidence things will turn out alright." Natural magic and temporal magic had already proven

themselves to be a helpful mix, bringing them to this place.

"I...I don't like this. If anything happens to those young men, it's on your head."

"I take full responsibility."

Gizmo opened the compartment containing the magic gems and started tossing them into a small fireplace. There was another explosion...bright, multi-colored fire exploding from the train's chimneystack. It very abruptly began to glow a multitude of colors...the three ponies in

front glowing similarly and beginning to run faster than it seemed they should be able to.

"Everyone, please hang on."

Faster and faster, colors swirling in deeper and more vivid shades around the train, until it was all anyone could see out the windows...the time keeper long behind them, completely blocked out by the encircling prism. "THIS IS THE BEST THING EVER!" Rainbow Dash shouted

excitedly, sticking her hoof out one of the train window, coating the end of her leg in gorgeous lights.

And then it was suddenly over...and they were somewhere new. A barren wasteland, nothing to be seen anywhere but rolling dunes of sand. The train was following a track that spontaneously appeared before it and disappeared behind it, more or less independent.

"Uh...partner?" Applejack asked, raising her hoof into the air like she was back in school. "Just here are we, exactly?"

The Doctor stared out the window at the empty landscape, and at the track below. "Looks like...neutral time. We'll be safe here. For a little while."

"...Right, so, uh, how exactly did all that business work?"

"I'll explain later. After I figure it out for sure myself."

Apple Bloom was glued to the window, smiling widely. "This is going to be the best history report _ever_."


End file.
